Nikola Bundalo, a four-star big man in the 2025 class who held an offer from Syracuse basketball coaches from two years ago, has reopened his recruitment after de-committing from Big Ten Conference school Washington, according to various media reports.
NEWS: Top-30 recruit Niko Bundalo, a McDonalds All-American, has received his release from Washington and will reopen his recruitment, source told @On3Recruits.
โ Joe Tipton (@TiptonEdits) April 29, 2025
The 6-10 power forward now becomes one of the top players available in the 2025 class. https://t.co/SG5q2yYpxa pic.twitter.com/QxBtNBL9fE
The 6-foot-10 power forward/center was down to a final four of Michigan State, North Carolina, Ohio State and UConn, but then in late October of last year, Bundalo reopened his recruitment. He pledged to Washington about a month later but is now back on the market.
4โญ๏ธ Niko Bundalo (no. 25 ESPN 100) has committed to Washington, per @PaulBiancardi ๐ฃโช๏ธ #GoHuskies pic.twitter.com/mdPr4IYlrp
โ SportsCenter NEXT (@SCNext) November 27, 2024
Would the Orange staff pursue Bundalo? Looking ahead to the 2025-26 season, the 'Cuse still has multiple scholarships available, and I'd love to see Syracuse basketball add another big man to its roster.
If I had to venture a guess, I don't think that the 'Cuse will make a run at Bundalo, but you never know. My friend Jamie Shaw, a top national analyst/scout with On3, had some intel on Bundalo in this piece from Tuesday.
Syracuse basketball's 2025-26 roster does include several power forwards/centers.
Bundalo picked up a scholarship offer from the Orange in May of 2023. A native of Ohio, he spent his senior year at the powerhouse Prolific Prep in Napa Valley, Calif., which finished the 2024-25 campaign as the No. 4 team in the country, according to top national analyst Paul Biancardi, who is ESPN's recruiting director.
Syracuse University has offered 6โ9โ Niko Bundaloโ25 @NikolaBundalo6 of @wildcatselect & Green (OH) HS. @CerebroSports ๐๐ https://t.co/AOAtrhgA1F pic.twitter.com/TId5cDnvmL
โ ๐๐๐น๐โฏ๐ ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐โฏ๐ (@Andrew__Slater) May 11, 2023
Prolific Prep was one of 10 teams that, earlier this month, competed at the Chipotle Nationalsย in Fishers, Ind., near Indianapolis. As I noted in this column, numerous Syracuse basketball signees and recruiting targets also played at the 2025 Chipotle Nationals.
A top-30 national prospect and the No. 5 power forward in the 2025 class, per the industry-generated On3 Industry Ranking, Bundalo was one of 24 high school seniors who suited up in the annual McDonald's All-America game, which took place on April 1 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.
For the Orange's 2025-26 roster, the 'Cuse currently has 11 scholarship players, with four scholarships still open. Two players from 2024-25 are returning, while Syracuse basketball coaches have landed five college transfers this off-season and a four-member 2025 class at the high school level.
If we're talking about power forwards/centers on the Orange's roster, they include:
Donnie Freeman, a rising sophomore
William Kyle lll, a junior transfer from UCLA
Sadiq White Jr., an incoming freshman
Ibrahim Souare, a redshirt freshman transfer from Georgia Tech
To reiterate, I don't expect Syracuse basketball to pursue Bundalo, although the 'Cuse absolutely could use another big man for the upcoming campaign.